China will maintain prudent, flexible monetary policy in second-half - central bank

[July 31, 2021]    BEIJING (Reuters) - China will maintain a prudent, flexible and targeted monetary policy in the second half of the year, its central bank said on Saturday, as it seeks to support growth while keeping the digital economy in check.

People wearing face masks walk past the headquarters of Chinese central bank People's Bank of China (PBOC), April 4, 2020. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang

China's economy has staged a strong rebound from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but recent data has suggested that gains are fading.

Factory activity in July grew at the slowest pace in 17 months since February 2020 when the impact of lockdowns to control the coronavirus pandemic was first felt. New export orders contracted for three straight months.

China's months-long regulatory crackdown on a range of private companies has also left tech upstarts and decades-old firms operating in a new, uncertain environment.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC), in a statement on its website on Saturday after a meeting on its priorities for the second half of the year, called for "rectifying" e-commerce and other tech companies and said it would "maintain a high level of pressure" on firms speculating in digital currencies.

China will focus on maintaining stability in its macro policies over the second half, and will not inject massive liquidity through "flood-like" measures, the bank said.

The central bank reiterated that China will keep the yuan exchange rate stable within a reasonable and balanced range.

(Reporting by Yew Lun Tian; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Richard Pullin)

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